This was the first sales book I ever read.

At the time, I’d spent 17 years in marketing, working shoulder-to-shoulder with sales, but I’d never run a B2B sales team.

I was consulting on demand gen for a company part-time. The CEO, Peter Weyman (who I’d worked for years earlier at CardScan), asked me to come on full-time and take over the B2B sales org on top of demand gen.

I said, “I’ve never managed a team of B2B sellers.”

He said, “You’ll figure it out. I’ll help.”

Then he handed me Mastering Your Sales Process by David Masover.

That book was exactly what I needed.

What made it different wasn’t a shiny methodology. It was discipline. David broke selling down into small, understandable parts and explained them clearly. No fluff, no mysticism.

That’s what most new sellers and new managers are missing.

Today we have more tech, more AI, more tools, more “gurus” than ever. But selling itself hasn’t fundamentally changed. (Just ask Todd Caponi.)

Yes, learn the new tools. Use them.

But start with the foundations.

Thirteen years later, after working with dozens of B2B sales teams, I can tell you this with certainty:

The fundamentals still win.

The best sellers, managers, and leaders understand the core principles well enough to evaluate what’s new through a smart lens—and ignore the bullshit.

I read Managing Your Sales Process almost immediately after (it’s written for managers), and later The Salesman’s Guide to Dating.

I also ended up becoming friends with David. We still catch up over Zoom from time to time (he lives in Hungary). He still has a rare ability to make the complex simple.

Bottom line:
If you’re new to sales—or you want to understand what actually matters at a core level—read this book.

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This is the third post in a short book series.
I’ve read a lot of business books.
A few changed how I work—and how I think.
I’m sharing the ones that mattered, and why, in case they help you too.
(Previous posts: Give and Take and The Talent Code.)